1963 Jaguar MK 2 3.8

Pink Floyd manager from 1968 until 2003, Steve O’Rourke was an enthusiastic gentleman racing driver – as were several in the band, especially drummer Nick Mason but also guitarist and lead singer David Gilmour. O’Rourke adored historic racing, also competing successfully at Le Mans and racing in the British F1 Championship. Famously in 1991, he and David Gilmour drove a replica Jaguar C-type (and Nick Mason also competed) in the crazy, dangerous and exotic revival of the 1950s Carrera Panamericana historic road race in Mexico, immortalised in the film La Carrera Panamericana with soundtrack by Pink Floyd.

What is less well known, is what had sown the seed for that 1991 venture and movie – THIS CAR….

In 1990, O’Rourke had this Mk2 Jaguar prepared for the Carrera, strengthened, lightened and fitted with a well-tuned 3.8-litre engine and manual gearbox.

The Carrera Panamericana was first revived in 1988 and quickly earned a reputation as the most dangerous – and exciting – historic race in the world, running a 7-day 2000-mile route on public highways officially closed for the purpose, with unlimited top speeds. Lax regulations have led to US competitors running NASCAR-like machines with silhouette bodies to look like the original 1950s competitors. It’s no wonder that O’Rourke elected to run a Proteus C-type replica the following year (Alain de Cadenet won in a C-type in 1990 – the only year an English entry has ever won the event), but the Mk2 still proudly wears his and Gilmour’s names and blood groups, hand-painted on the front wing.

The Mk2 wasn’t destined to return home covered in glory – it’s believed that the propshaft failed early on and David Gilmour’s views ‘on the spot’ are immortalised on www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrZIm8RBEqE – though sadly the Mk2 is not shown, the interview is spliced with images of another broken-down car. There is certainly scope for the next owner to dig deeper, as there must be film and photos of the car, Gilmour and O’Rourke to be found – an enjoyable treasure hunt that can only add value to the car.

The Mk2’s body and paintwork are of an excellent standard for a competition car and the stripped-out interior makes it very easy to see that it is perfectly solid and rust-free both inside and out. Indeed it has hardly turned a wheel since the restoration was completed. Inside, patches can be seen welded into the floor, for strengthening as much as for rust repairs, but outside the near-flawless paintwork is a credit to the restorer’s dedication. Underneath, the entire shell is coated in a thin but effective underseal, giving good protection while making it easy to see that everything is as it should be. Door gaps are not spectacular, but this is primarily a racer not a concours car!

The condition of the chromework is mixed, the worst being the left rear door handle and the front bumper; from a 240 or 340 saloon and presumably chosen for its lighter weight than the original, it shows quite a few rust bubbles under the chrome and might be better left off. At the back, the chrome light fittings have some pitting but are better than many we have seen, while at the front the lightweight grille is deteriorating at the bottom. The tell-tale plastic lenses for the front sidelights are missing.

The wide, heavy-duty wire wheels are immaculate and carry new 205/70x15 rubber; a spare is included in the rear compartment but without a tyre.

Inside, there is no doubt that this is a race car not a road car, as nothing of the Mk2’s original interior remains. The steering wheel is a nice period wood-rimmed item, almost certainly fitted for the Carrera, while the dash is a simple flat panel with a large rev counter directly in front of the driver, minor instruments for oil pressure, battery voltage, coolant temperature and fuel level, plus warning lights, switches and fuse boxes, handily placed in front of the co-driver for rapid replacement on the move. Lightweight pedals hang below and the entire interior is just painted metal, except for riveted-on bare aluminium sheets over the inside of the doors, which are opened by a simple wire-pull. A switch attached to the gear lever selects overdrive.

Seat belts are not currently fitted, and would not be a legal requirement if the car were prepared for road use in the UK, but appropriate belts could be added for road or race use as desired.

In the boot sits an impressive new fuel tank, well forward over the rear axle for safety and with a large Facet fuel pump, all Aeroquipped; plus a box containing the battery. Again, the standard of finish of the stripped-out boot is very good.

The powerhouse of this Mk2 is its 3.8-litre engine, which starts easily and pulls extremely strongly – it’s been rolling road tested at 300+bhp, a very impressive figure to achieve on the twin SU carburettors. New enamelled exhaust manifolds gleam, leading into a Falcon twin-pipe stainless exhaust system. The braking system has been set up with twin circuits and twin servos, a powerful alternator maintains the charge and a high capacity aluminium radiator with large electric fan ensures all stays cool, aided by a massively-louvred bonnet. The seller advises us that the brakes have been bled.

Uprated Koni suspension gives a firm ride and good ground clearance. The underneath of the car is all undersealed and the structure appears to be in very sound, rust-free condition.

The Jaguar Heritage Certificate reveals, rather delightfully, that this Mk2 was dispatched on 1 March 1963 to Miss M Knowles of Kempsey, Worcestershire – it’s rare to get the first owner’s details. Supplied as a 3.4-litre automatic in Sherwood Green with Suede Green interior, one wonders if she would be amused or horrified at its current state.

Nothing is known of the car’s early life except that it had only had four owners at most when purchased by, or for, Steve O’Rourke. We can surmise that that must have been in 1989, as a Mexican website records that the organisers of the Carrera Panamericana received a call from Steve in that year, excited to enter in 1990; it also records that Nick Mason competed in 1990 in a Lancia Aurelia B20 with Guy Edwards.

On May 13, 1991, Steve registered the car in his name, as is shown on the current V5. Why then, we can only surmise, but it is likely that the car had been shipped back from the November 1990 Carrera and he was planning either to run it in UK races or to restore it to road use. The engine and gearbox were taken out of the car and presumably fitted in the Proteus C-type with which Gilmour and O’Rourke competed in 1991; the Mk2 then sat untouched until purchased by David Beckett in approximately 1993, Beckett confirming, “I purchased this car together with the crashed Proteus Replica ‘C’ Type Jaguar from Steve O’Rourke, manager of Pink Floyd pop group. This Jaguar MkII was driven by Steve and David Gilmore (sic) and retired from the PanAmericana Rally/Race due to propshaft failure. I purchased same less engine & gearbox, 20 years ago approx, and sold to Michael Ball.

Michael Ball bought and prepared a 3.8 engine and gearbox for the car, but did not get around to restoring it before his death in 2013.

In 2014 the car was purchased for restoration by the vendor: 2014 photos and description can be seen at www.saloondata.com/cars/detail/?car=162549BW. An article at the time records that it had been found largely untouched since the race, after being brought back from Mexico and registered by Steve O’Rourke in 1991, but never made road legal. For the race, the article reports, “the Jaguar was rebuilt with strengthened bodywork, including the driver’s side rear door being welded in, and a heavy duty anti-roll bar. All the side glass was replaced with Perspex. A long distance fuel tank, uprated Koni suspension and lightweight pedals are among other modifications. The car needs restoration but comes with a Jaguar 3.8-litre engine and synchromesh gearbox, and a Heritage Certificate.”

It can be seen from this and the photos that the Mk2 today has been restored with no expense spared (the vendor advises that bills total more than £25,000) to very much the condition in which it competed in the Carrera Panamericana in 1990, though the somewhat primitive roll cage with vertical bar between the seats has thankfully been replaced with a more practical Safety Devices rear cage, and a brand new pair of nicely contrasting light blue Ridgard seats replaces the loose red seats that were in the car in 2014. 

This is a truly unique Mark 2 and offers lots of options. Clearly its Pink Floyd Carrera Panamericana history makes it collectable as it stands. It could be run on track days, hillclimbs, sprints etc with little more than a set of seatbelts. It wouldn’t take much to make it road legal for fun blasts and runs to the pub either – being MoT exempt, you could tax it straight away and with a phone on a speedo app clamped to the windscreen, it would probably be legal at that. We estimate this will achieve circa. £20,000 - £35,000.

The history would help it to get entries at prestigious race meetings – clearly though it would need to comply with the relevant regulations, which would require some work (mostly adding back original parts, all of which can be found secondhand at sensible prices if you hunt around). It would also be a great car for long distance rallies – like the Carrera Panamericana again, or the likes of Peking to Paris. Again, you’d have to make it comply with current regs, but the fundamentals of a strong shell, well-tuned engine and sturdy running gear are all there. It’s hard to go wrong, though we’d certainly advise keeping it as a fun competition car rather than trying to convert it back to concours original spec, which would rather lose its character!

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the seller in Bordon, Hants; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

This vehicle is not with us at The Market’s HQ, which means we have had to rely on the owner’s description of it, in conjunction with the photographs you see here, to compile the listing.

With this in mind, we would encourage potential bidders to contact the owner themselves and arrange to view the car in person, or to arrange a dedicated video call in which they can view the car virtually and ask questions.